Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram freed

Some of the 110 schoolgirls taken by the militant group have been returned

Written by Alannah Francis
21/03/2018 12:17 PM

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FREED: A number of the Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped last month have been released

A NUMBER of the school girls kidnapped by Nigerian militants Boko Haram have been freed, according to their families.

The girls were abducted from the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College in Dapchi last month.

The Nigerian government has issued a statement saying that “76 of the girls had been freed in an ongoing process”.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Nigeria’s minister of information and culture, said in the statement that girls were released "unconditionally" and "with the help of some friends of the country".

He added: "The government had a clear understanding that violence and confrontation would not be the way out as it could endanger the lives of the girls, hence a non-violent approach was the preferred option."

According to the girls’ relatives, five of those kidnapped died in captivity and another remained held by the militants.

Members of Boko Haram transported the students back to their hometown of Dapchi in the northeast of Nigeria.

The militants arrived in a convoy of trucks in the morning, released the girls and then departed, witnesses told Reuters.

“Five among us taken away were dead. One is still with them because she is a Christian,” one of the freed students told Reuters news agency.

The abduction of the students is believed to be one of the largest since the jihadist group kidnapped over 270 schoolgirls from Chibok in 2014. Over a period of months groups of the girls taken from Chibok were released or found.

The mass kidnapping of the Chibok girls sparked Bring Back Our Girls, a global campaign for the girls’ return. High profile figures such as Michelle Obama and Diddy shared their support for the campaign at the time.

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Posted on: 21/03/2018 12:17 PM

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